London, September 2016: We spent 48 of the more unusual hours of our livestreaming career with artist Noëmi Lakmaier in Shoreditch Church.

She was tied to 20,000 helium-filled balloons in an attempt to float her. It worked! At around 3 minutes into the edited clip above you’ll see her lift off!

From the project press release: Cherophobia is a 48hour durational living installation by Noëmi Lakmaier. It is an attempt to lift the artist’s bound and immobilised body off the ground using 20,000 helium party balloons. Cherophobia is a performance and a gathering, a one-off event that intertwines people in their shared suspense and anticipation.

It takes its title from a psychiatric condition, defined as ‘an exaggerated or irrational fear of gaiety or happiness’. Commissioned by Unlimited, a festival celebrating extraordinary new works by disabled and Deaf artists, Cherophobia invites viewers to observe as balloons are inflated and attached by a team of assistants, as Lakmaier is suspended in the air.